And There Were Three
by Roses of Sharon
Summary: In the beginning, there were three. They didn't quite love each other, and they didn't hate each other, but they would do both. In the beginning, there were three. There wouldn't always be three. But they would end as they had begun. Three. Team7


Author's Note: My first long story in such a long time! It's about three pages long, one-thousand-three-hundred-and-three words, and absolutely amazing! Well, not really, and I wrote it over the course of a few days – so if you catch any inconsistencies, please point it out to me!

Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto_. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, Viz, Shonen Jump, Jetix, Cartoon Network, Madman International, TV Tokyo, Studio Perriot, YTV, and Manga Entertainment.

Summary: In the beginning, there were four. They didn't quite love each other, and they didn't quite hate each other, but they would learn to do both over the years. [Team7

And Then There Were Three

In the beginning, there were four. They didn't quite love each other, when it began… Rather, the girl who was to control slugs loved the boy who was to control snakes, who hated the boy who was to control toads, who loved the girl, who hated him. And the man who controlled dogs was bored by his team, the children he was told he had to train, but he did his job anyways, as well as he could – though he always preferred the snake-boy over the others. He, the man believed, was stronger, better, faster, smarter.

If you had looked at that same team – Team Seven – a year later, you wouldn't have thought much had changed. The slug-girl still loved the snake-boy, and the toad-boy still loved her… But the toad-boy and the snake-boy were best friends now, and the slug-girl needed the toad-boy almost as much as she needed the snake-boy. But though the dog-man still loved the snake-boy more, he had found that he wasn't quite so bored this time around. True, he was still late; true, he was still annoyed, but… He had come to need them, had come to love them, as a father would love his children, or so he imagined.

And, then, there were three. The boy who was to control snakes left to learn, to seek power, to become strong enough to kill his brother. The girl and the other boy were left alone, with their teacher – the man who controlled dogs – and the girl who stayed loved the boy who left, and the boy who stayed still loved that girl.

And then, there was no team. The girl who was to control slugs left to learn how, and the boy who was to control toads left as well, for the same purpose. For a year, there was no team, just training and work and training and more work. The days thudded with a perpetual rhythm, broken only by the announcement of a mission, then the day's recovery from it.

And then, once more, there was a team. Not Team Seven, because the boy who left hadn't returned, but Team Kakashi, made of the man who controlled dogs, and the boy who controlled toads, and the girl who was to control slugs. They made a good team, a team that worked together well, even though the man was perpetually late, the boy was perpetually rude, and the girl still loved the boy who left.

And then there were four again. There was a boy, who didn't control anything but ink, but did it well. He reminded the girl of the boy she had lost – the boy she had failed, the boy they all had failed – but the reminder only forced her to work harder, to train more, and to make friends with him (make sure she didn't fail again). So the boy who controlled toads also accepted the new boy as a brother, and from there it all went uphill.

But as good and right as that felt, there was still a hole in the girl's heart, for she always had loved the snake-boy, even though he left, and the boy who controlled toads still hurt, deep inside, because the girl didn't – couldn't – love him back, because his best friend left him, and because his first teacher still thought that the boy who left would amount to more.

Another year passed, and another year after that – summer, winter, fall, spring, summer, winter, fall, spring… The seasons flew by, and the team changed, changed so much, and instead of seeing the ink-controlling boy as a replacement for the boy who left, they see him for himself. And even though the girl stilled loved the boy who left, the boy who stayed had found another girl to love, a girl who was able to love him back. And even though the man still thought longingly of the boy who had been so like and unlike himself, he found that in his team he still had family.

So they were happy together, for a long while, though the hole left by the boy could never completely be filled.

Then, suddenly, the boy was back. He came back covered in blood, dead on his feet with exhaustion, but he came back. The girl healed him, the boy stayed with him, the man looked after him, and the boy who was to replace him simply watched.

He didn't belong in this picture. This, he knew, as surely as he knew that the sky was blue and that the girl was ugly.

But, still, he stayed, because the girl had asked him to, the boy had commanded him to, and the man had simply looked at him and thought that he should. So he stayed.

The boy who left recovered and they welcomed him back into their team. Rather, the girl who still loved him welcomed him back with open arms, the man with the mask who had been his teacher simply raised an eyebrow and told him to do whatever he wanted, and the boy that he had left knocked him around once or twice (while he let him), before finally telling him that he didn't really have a choice.

So now there were five, and they didn't really quite belong to one another yet, but someday, someday they would. Life is a learning experience, and, anyways, you shouldn't take it too seriously – it's not like you're getting out alive.

A few months passed, and the boy who replaced the boy who had left departed as well, choosing to take missions with other teams and on his own instead of taking missions with the team he had come to know as his. They all knew why, yet even as he walked away they dared not voice it – though it would weigh their hearts down for months or even years to come. So now, there were four, just like in the beginning there were four.

Unfortunately, not all good things last. In fact, most good things do not. So it came to pass that the man who they had all thought invincible died, a glorious death, but a death nonetheless. They mourned for days, weeks, months, years, and the ground around his grave and his name was stained wet, though not with rain.

So now there were three. There were three, just as there had been three before them, and just as there would be three after them. They were three, and they _belonged _together, just as so few people truly _belong _together, in the way in which they did – each a puzzle piece, carefully, perfectly, fitting into the others, as though they were made for each other.

So while they didn't quite live happily ever after, the girl and the boy and the other boy were still quite happy together. They hadn't found their One True Loves or Happily Ever Afters, but they had found what they needed most – true friends, true friendship, and a love that burns long after lust has guttered out.

After all, they were a team.

Team Seven.


End file.
